Blog Post 45

I'm taking a little break. I'll be back.

FutureSex/LoveSounds by Justin Timberlake

Justin Timberlake
FutureSex/LoveSounds
2006
Pop
Zomba

1. FutureSex/LoveSound
2. SexyBack
3. Sexy Ladies/Let Me Talk To You
4. My Love
5. Lovestoned/I Think That She Knows
6. What Goes Around.../...Comes Around
7. Chop Me Up
8. Damn Girl
9. Summer Love/Set The Mood
10. Until The End Of Time
11. Losing My Way
12. (Another Song) All Over Again
(Also included is a 500x500 album cover .jpeg)

I'm not a saint
I'm just a man
Who had Heaven and Earth
In the palm of his hand
But I threw it away

"(Another Song) All Over Again"

Out of all the stuff I listen to on a regular basis, what I probably get the oddest faces when people find out that I'm a huge Justin Timberlake. I don't totally love his first album, Justified, or his boy band era, but everything from FutureSex/LoveSounds and his guest appearances are pretty perfect. He's one of those rare gems in the top 40 who can manage putting together an entire album of songs that are just as good as the singles. And tastefully.

Tastefully? This is an "concept album" about lust and romance. Can it really be done tastefully? Yes. Mostly because of the incredible production by Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, and Rick Rubin. The beats bring thoughts to my mind about a modern day Thriller, with tons of layers of sound mixing perfectly to make one, thick sounding groove for a good hour and 6 minutes. It's very contemporary pop, but still fresh sounding even after the mid-2000s hip hop sound has evolved into something else. Doesn't lend itself to being dated at all.

I really apologize for giving such a lame summary of how FutureSex/LoveSounds actually sounds like. I'm really really tired at the moment and no words are entering my head. So this is a little mystery meat. Just trust me this time, okay? I think Justin Timberlake is the best top 40 artist making music right now, and this album is probably the best pop album of the 2000s.

I'll maybe come back and rewrite this blog when I'm a little more awake...

Click here to download part 1 (80.57 MB)
Click here to download part 2 (59.22 MB)

There's like 2 F-bombs on the album so they thought it would be a good idea to put an Explicit logo on the cover. That's really all that's keeping this from being clean.

Buy it!
CD / Digital Copy / Vinyl

In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel

Neutral Milk Hotel
In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
1999
Indie
Merge

1. The King Of Carrot Flowers (Part 1)
2. The King Of Carrot Flowers (Part 1 & 2)
3. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
4. Two-Headed Boy (Part 1)
5. The Fool
6. Holland, 1945
7. Communist Daughter
8. Oh Comely
9. Ghost
10. Untitled
11. Two Headed Boy (Part 2)
(Also included is a 500x500 album cover .jpeg)

And when we break
We’ll wait for our miracle
God is a place where some holy spectacle lies
And when we break
We’ll wait for our miracle
God is a place you will wait for the rest of your life.
Two-headed boy
She is all you could need
She will feed you tomatoes
And radio wire
And retire to sheets safe and clean
But don’t hate her when she gets up to leave

"Two-Headed Boy (Part 2)"

Along with uploading this album, I have a few apologies to make. One is that I have been slacking on posts. This one is a few days late, and the last one was about a week late. Mostly because I've been listening to a lot of new stuff that I don't own yet and have had a hard time deciding what to upload. And the second thing is that I have gotten into a bad habit of uploading classic albums instead of more obscure stuff. I posted Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven, OK Computer, and Thriller all one after another. All very hyped and very celebrated pieces of work that I am the thousandth person to blog about. This album is absolutely no break from that trend. But those of you who haven't heard of it, you can now crawl out of your rock you must be living under.

There have been so many things said about In The Aeroplane Over The Sea that no matter what I say, I won't be the first one to say it. It's definitely one of the most praised albums of all time, and it definitely lives up to a good deal of the hype. All of it? Probably not. But this is a great record. What it all boils down to is Jeff Mangum's visionary songwriting. The lyrics mean both everything and nothing, making little literal sense other than general ideas, but perfectly convey emotion, dreams, and thoughts in a very universal way. The words personify being in love, mourning a death, traveling the world, being in the middle of a war, and a thousand other states of mind that I don't have the energy to get into at the moment.

The music is what is now commonly associated with the word "indie," but I think of it as really aggressive folk. All the songs are focused around an acoustic guitar playing mostly open chords, but the arrangements are huge and, according to the liner notes, incorporate over 25 different instruments, including accordion, trumpet, organ, shortwave radio, fugelhorn, zanzithophone, and bowed banjo. That sounds like it would come together to make a really scatterbrained style of music, but Neutral Milk Hotel's overall sound and feel has become a staple in the music scene. They've heavily influenced ridiculous amounts of people, including my favorites: Okkervil River and Modest Mouse.

I personally am a big fan of the way the songs are mapped on the album. The first two tracks are 3 parts of a larger picture, "The King Of Carrot Flowers." Also, "Two-Headed Boy (Part 1)" is actually continued by "The Fool," which might has well be a part of the Two-Headed Boy saga. "Untitled" is basically a continuation of "Ghost," and could very well be called "Ghost (Part 2)." And to close out the album, there is "Two-Headed Boy (Part 2)" which starts as a very different song and slowly transitions into a reprise of the theme, but not exactly bringing closure to the album, leaving everything very ambiguous.

I like what I did with that. In fact, if I had to describe this album in one word, it would be exactly that: "ambiguous." You'll like it.

Click here to download (83.86 MB)

Buy it!
CD / Vinyl / Digital Copy

Catch For Us The Foxes by mewithoutYou

mewithoutYou
Catch For Us The Foxes
2004
Post Hardcore
Tooth & Nail

1. Torches Together
2. January 1979
3. Tie Me Up! Untie Me!
4. Leaf
5. Disaster Tourism
6. Seven Sisters
7. The Soviet
8. Paper Hanger
9. My Exit, Unfair
10. Four Word Letter (Pt. 2)
11. Carousels
12. Son Of A Widow
(Also included is a 499x500 album cover .jpeg)

My life's a cup of sugar I borrowed before time began and forgot to return

"January 1979"

mewithoutYou is one of my favorite bands, and I really can't choose which one of their records is best. It's either Brother, Sister (also on the blog, take a look around) or Catch For Us The Foxes. This is a huge sounding record, with a rumbling, ethereal sound akin to Radiohead's OK Computer. (Again, on the blog) The music completely demands your attention. And if that isn't enough, their "singer," Aaron Weiss, demands it very loudly and very explicitly.

If you've never heard of mewithoutYou before, you're in for a surprise when the vocals come in. There's very little melody or tune to what he's saying, if at all. Actually, "saying" is a pretty accurate description of how the vocals go. It's difficult to describe, but he kind of rhythmically mumbles, speaks, shouts, and panics. But not in a screamo or scene way. It's actually very tasteful, and he's one of my favorite vocalists.

Most of all, if the music doesn't convince you that something special is going on here, and the vocals don't convince you that something special is going on here, the lyrics will. What makes Aaron Weiss' unique vocal style "work" is his message. It's heavy stuff. Most people would simply call it christian and be done with it, but I don't see it in such a two dimensional way. Aaron's lyrics are self loathing and God questioning. And always jaw dropping and thought provoking. I really can't say any more without ruining it...they're more than faith based lyrics. They're existence based lyrics.

Listen to it.

Click here to download (52.30 MB)
Click here to download (46.04 MB)

Buy it!
CD / Digital Copy

Thriller by Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson
Thriller
1982
Pop
Epic

1. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
2. Baby Be Mine
3. The Girl Is Mine
4. Thriller
5. Beat It
6. Billie Jean
7. Human Nature
8. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
9. The Lady In My Life
(Also included is a 500x500 album cover .jpeg)

She told my baby we'd danced till three, then she looked at me
Then showed a photo--my baby cried--his eyes were like mine
Cause we danced on the floor in the round

"Billie Jean"

R.I.P. Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

Regardless of what you think of Michael Jackson, Thriller simply is one of the best produced and most iconic albums ever released. I'm not going to say much about it, because I'm sure whatever I say won't do Michael Jackson justice. His goal in making the album was to make a record where "every song was a killer," and he has accomplished this perfectly. It's a masterpiece from start to finish with no filler.

It was produced by Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones. Eddie Van Halen plays guitar on "Beat It." Paul McCartney sings on "The Girl Is Mine." Janet Jackson sings on "P.Y.T." Vincent Price gives a monologue on "Thriller." It's the best selling album (worldwide) of all time. And Michael is spot on without fail. This is the pop album, and every pop star wishes they made it. If you don't have this yet, it's time to change that.

Click here to download (92.04 MB)

Buy it!
CD / CD+DVD

OK Computer by Radiohead

Radiohead
OK Computer
1997
Alternative
Capitol

1. Airbag
2. Paranoid Android
3. Subterranean Homesick Alien
4. Exit Music (For A Film)
5. Let Down
6. Karma Police
7. Fitter Happier
8. Electioneering
9. Climbing Up The Walls
10. No Surprises
11. Lucky
12. The Tourist
(Also included is a 953x953 album cover .jpeg)

Fitter, happier, more productive
Comfortable
Not drinking too much,
Regular exercise at the gym
3 days a week
Getting on better with your associate employee contemporaries
At ease
Eating well
No more microwave dinners and saturated fats
A patient, better driver
A safer car
Baby smiling in back seat
Sleeping well
No bad dreams
No paranoia
Careful to all animals
Never washing spiders down the plughole

"Fitter Happier"

I was with some friends the other day and the OK Computer CD case was sitting nearby. One of them asked, "which Radiohead album is that?" and the other responded, "that's the Radiohead album." I'll be the first to admit that OK Computer is not my favorite Radiohead album, (just wait for my epic Kid A/Amnesiac double blog post) but it's definitely what they'll be remembered for most. And on top of that the music is incredible. So you should really already have this in your collection. But if not, I am here to share the wealth.

Radiohead has gone through a lot of stages in their music through the years. They started as pretty raw, raunchy, almost garage rock with Pablo Honey and The Bends. They took a very dangerous but much needed step in a more psychedelic and hard rock direction with OK Computer, and then took a complete U-turn with their next companion piece, Kid A and Amnesiac. Those two albums used barely any guitar (something Trent Reznor picked up for Year Zero) and implemented a lot of electronics and ambiance to create a totally unique sound that had never been heard before. OK Computer is what got them huge, and is still seen as their best work almost unanimously by fans (myself not included however).

It's a big, awesome sounding record. Right when you first press play, the fuzzy bassline to "Airbag" demands your attention and then slowly swirls around into the mix of other floaty guitars. Orchestrated perfectly to fill every single empty space in the mix (and your ears). It progresses very naturally like this, and the whole album has a very classic sound that is very often imitated (Muse? Looking at you.) but never duplicated. Download this record if you've never heard anything by Radiohead. You need it.

Click here to download part 1 (66.96 MB)
Click here to download part 2 (47.43 MB)

Buy it!
CD / 2 CDs+DVD / 2 CDs / Digital Copy / Vinyl

Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven by Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven
2000
Post Rock
Kranky

1. Storm
2. Static
3. Sleep
4. Antennas To Heaven
(Also included is a 900x900 album cover .jpeg)

"...The only thing is, they see it
Not through the light of God, and the way I show you,
I show you to see it through the light of God,
And the understanding of God.
Because when you see the face of God, you will die
And there will be nothing left of you
Except the God-man, the God-woman,
The heavenly man, the heavenly woman,
The heavenly child!
There'll be prayer on your lips day and night.
There'll be a song of jubilee waiting for your king.
There will be nothing you will be be looking for in this world
Except in for your god.
This is all a dream.
A dream in death..."

"Static"

I bought Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven without ever hearing one note of it. I was just so struck by the name of the band, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and the name of the album, along with the eerily ambiguous cover art. I ordered my copy offline, not knowing what to expect. To tell you the truth, I had a strange feeling that I was going to be listening to some epic, progressive math rock band. I was very happily mistaken. Godspeed You! Black Emperor is the post rock band to end all post rock bands.

When the package arrived, it came with two other CDs I had ordered at the same time. Madvillainy by MF DOOM, and Things Fall Apart by The Roots, two other albums that I had never heard before in my life. I normally don't buy music this hastily, but I was so interested in these 3 bands that I felt like I would ruin the experience for myself if I didn't have everything in front of me when I listened for the first time.

I listened to Godspeed You! Black Emperor last, as I was going to sleep, because I knew I couldn't stay awake through their ridiculous track lengths. The next day, my dad was getting on a plane to be taken to a hospital. He was going to undergo a serious spinal corrective surgery, and he was worried that he would come back worse than he was, along with the rest of my family. When I listened to this album for the first time, with all these thoughts spinning around my head, trying to fall asleep, it was perfect. I think about it every time I listen.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor is one of those bands that I have a very hard time trying to describe to people properly. Their music is so good that you have to hear it to believe it for yourself, otherwise you will be convinced that it's just simply not for you. Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven is their best album, and it is a 2 disc double album consisting only of 4 songs, 2 of which take up each CD of the set. The shortest song is nearly 19 minutes, and the longest is 23. However, they somehow aren't boring. Their songs consist of many movements, much like in classical music, that flow into each other seamlessly.

Their sound is also heavily influenced by classical music. I like to describe them as being a classical rock band, but they aren't classical sounding at all, and they aren't rock sounding at all. They actually teeter on the edge of ambient from time to time, but their music is altogether very melodic. It's ridiculously hard to describe and I apologize for doing so.

Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven is split up into several movements for the sole reason that it's an experience. Listening to it all the way through creates a mood and a mindset that I don't think I've ever seen be done in any other album. It opens with "Storm," which begins as a triumphant march, like a holy band playing to exhaustion, welcoming and accompanying your first steps in heaven. And everything progresses naturally after that, oftentimes taking more grave turns. The entire album is littered with recordings of people (and places) speaking, which serve as reference points to exactly where you are in your journey through it all.

It's altogether very moving.

Click here to download part 1 (46.67 MB)
Click here to download part 2 (47.18 MB)
Click here to download part 3 (88.46 MB)

Buy it!
CD / Digital Copy

Eye To The Telescope by KT Tunstall

KT Tunstall
Eye To The Telescope
2006
Pop
Virgin

1. Other Side Of The World
2. Another Place To Fall
3. Under The Weather
4. Black Horse & The Cherry Tree
5. Miniature Disasters
6. Silent Sea
7. Universe & U
8. False Alarm
9. Suddenly I See
10. Stoppin' The Love
11. Heal Over
12. Through The Dark
(Also included is a 500x500 album cover .jpeg)

I used to talk
With honest conviction
Of how I predicted my world
I'm gonna leave it to stargazers
Tell me what your telescope says

"Through The Dark"

I started listening to KT Tunstall in 2006 when this album charted because of the success of "Suddenly I See." When my friends who were just too cool for school found out that I listened to a pop singer, they made fun of me for listening to something that they considered girly and bubblegum. I'm sorry to say that out of peer pressure I quit listening to her music just so no one would judge my music taste by it. And about half a year ago, I rediscovered her music, and I was floored. I can't believe what I was missing that whole time. This is not girly, this is not bubblegum, this is barely pop. KT Tunstall is one of the best singer-songwriters in the music industry today, and probably the absolute best that gets radio play.

I'm somewhat of a guitarist myself, and I was trying to get into "looping." It's a style of playing where you use an effects pedal to record yourself playing something in a rhythm live, then play it back infinitely and play over yourself to become a sort of one man band. In my googling for loop pedals and people who use them, I stumbled upon KT Tunstall's breakthrough performance on Later With Jools Holland, where she performed "Black Horse & The Cherry Tree" all by her lonesome, but with every layer of the song intact. She looped herself beating on her guitar to make drum noises, a miced tamborine, and her own voice, to create a totally unique sound that I had never experienced before. I strongly suggest you prowl through Youtube to find that video if you're at all on the fence about KT's musical abilities.

She's quite a guitarist. And singer. And lyricist. And overall just a fantastic musician who I absolutely love to listen to. There's not a bad song on the record, it doesn't wear itself out like most albums that you may have discovered through heavy radio rotation. She has a wonderful voice that is both powerful and soothing, and if that isn't enough, the production on all aspects of the music is great. I can't recommend this enough. Download it.

Click here to download part 1 (53.85 MB)
Click here to download part 2 (41.04 MB)

Buy it!
CD / Digital Copy

Change by The Dismemberment Plan

The Dismemberment Plan
Change
2001
Indie
DeSoto

1. Sentimental Man
2. The Face Of The Earth
3. Superpowers
4. Pay For The Piano
5. Come Home
6. Secret Curse
7. Automatic
8. Following Through
9. Time Bomb
10. The Other Side
11. Ellen And Ben
(Also included is a massive 1425x1425 album cover .jpeg)

I'm an old testament type of guy
I like my coffee black and my parole denied

"Sentimental Man"

Emergency & I is hailed as one of the best albums of the '90s all the time, and the rest of The Dismemberment Plan's catalog is really overshadowed by the greatness of that album. It's very true that Emergency & I is an awesome record, but in my opinion, Change is a little superior and never got the attention it deserved. It is also the band's last album before calling it quits on good terms, and serves as the perfect swan song for one of the best bands of all time.

There's plenty of good humor in this album, just like there is in the rest of The Dismemberment Plan's music. But Change is also more matured, and deals with heavier subjects, like politics, religion, and divorce. Before I had ever heard the music, I read a review that mentioned that Change helped the writer deal with September 11th, which I found very poignant. It was, after all, released a month after the tragedy. The music just seems to have an overall more serious tone to it, while still retaining all the quirks that make the band what it is.

I wish I could think of more things to say about Change. But I'm drawing a blank. I truly believe that these guys are one of the best bands out there, and that this is the cream of the crop. Please check it out, you won't be disappointed.

Click here to download part 1 (53.25 MB)
Click here to download part 2 (47.06 MB)

Buy it!
CD / Digital Copy

Sin-A-Matic by Louis Logic

Louis Logic
Sin-A-Matic
2003
Hip Hop
Solid

1. Sintro
2. Street Smarts
3. Freak Show
4. Celph Hatred
5. Diablos
6. Dos Factotum
7. Coochie Coup
8. Postal
9. Mischievous
10. Halfway Stretch (Sinterlude)
11. Best Friends
12. Revenge!!!
13. Fair Weather Fan
14. The Rest
15. The Ugly Truth
16. Idiot Gear
17. Dust To Dust
(Also included is a 342x342 album cover .jpeg)

You're just another asshole
Who wants to see me dressed up in my dad's clothes
Working underpaid until I'm mad old
As far as that goes
You'll never live to see it take place
I've brought a little present for you in my attache case

"Postal"

Scroll to the bottom of this blog post and click the download link, right now. After you've done that, continue reading. Ready...go.

There are a lot of rappers on the scene right now who are trying to differentiate themselves from the mainstream by putting a serious message in their lyrics, as opposed to rapping about material possessions and women. Louis Logic takes a step in the opposite direction. It's apparent that he's trying to become noticed by being as offensive as he possibly can towards anyone he can. He gets this message across as soon as the album starts, with the opening statement: "Perfection is rhymer, it's only 'cause I'm such a dick you always find me next to vagina."

The title of the record, Sin-A-Matic, refers not only to the lyrical content, but also is a play on words of "cinematic," to describe Louis Logic's visual delivery style. He's quite a storyteller, and his lyrics are very easily understood and followed. This works great on songs like "Postal," "Best Friends/Revenge!!!" and "Dust To Dust." Narrative lyrics are even more apparent on his follow up album, Misery Loves Comedy, but this is by far a superior disc.

Though Louis Logic tries to offend for shock factor every chance he gets, it's all in good fun. Most songs are satire on the common radio rapper, like "Coochie Coup," which is probably the most obscene piece of music I've ever heard in my life. His lyrics are absolutely hilarious because of this, though. I dare you to sit through Sin-A-Matic without having a good belly laugh or two. He doesn't let the album end without a serious note or two though. "The Ugly Truth" is a very thought provoking song about the average middle aged white man's prejudiced views on the world around him, and "Dust To Dust" is a story of a married man's scuicide, induced by years of adultery.

Apart from Louis Logic's awesome writing and delivery, there's another huge plus to this record, and that's the very fresh beats, mostly by J.J. Brown, who is currently Louis Logic's partner-in-crime on his new record label, 5G productions. I can't brag on this guy enough. Every beat he does is ridiculously catchy and full of energy. Check out Misery Loves Comedy and Sin-A-Matic: The 80's Edition for 100% J.J. Brown produced beats on Louis Logic records.

Sin-A-Matic is my favorite hip hop album of all time. However, it's not perfect. There's but one flaw, and that's the song "Freak Show," which keeps in tune with Louis Logic's theme of shock-and-awe obscenity. But I think this song takes it just too far, and is far from being actually enjoyable. I think that if this song from the record, or maybe placed in a different order in the tracklisting, the album would be very near perfection. I'm sure someone will be able to get into it though. Just not me.

Click here to download part 1 (63.2 MB)
Click here to download part 2 (72.85 MB)

Louis Logic has an entire song dedicated to keeping his music out of the reach of children, and he means it. Very vulgar.

Unfortunately, Sin-A-Matic is out of print, both for physical copies and legal digital copies. If you really want a physical copy of the album, you can look on amazon marketplace (like I did) and pay over 20 bucks for a new copy. It's worth every penny, though.